Now that everyone around here is back to school, I thought it would be a good time to talk about school bus safety. Nothing can be more important than keeping our kids safe. Bus drivers have so much responsibility keeping to their routes, navigating traffic, staying on time, and keeping track of all of the many students on board. Let’s not be one more thing they have to worry about.
We all know what a school bus looks like – big and yellow. It says “School Bus,” in big letters on the side. This should make it easy to notice. If you see a bus, look for clues that it will soon be stopping. The bus driver will put on yellow flashing lights to signify that the bus is slowing down and preparing to pick up or drop off students. When they are ready to actually stop, the lights will switch to flashing red lights, and often a stop sign will swing out of the side of the bus and perhaps an arm will swing out from the front of the bus. The side “Stop” sign is designed to be one more warning to oncoming drivers, and the arm on the front makes it so the kiddos have to walk out and around making it easier for the bus driver to see them , keeping them out of their blind spot.
If you see a bus with red lights flashing and you are behind them, you must stop 25 feet behind them. That way the bus driver can still see you through their rear-view mirror. If you stop too close, you are in another blind spot. If you are on a multiple-lane road, all cars must still stop the same 25 feet back.
If you are coming towards a bus with red lights flashing, you must also stop the same 25 feet away from the bus to give students room to cross in front of the bus if need be. This can be tricky since you may not know exactly where the bus will finally stop. If you see them slowing down, you should too, and make every reasonable effort to stop. If the bus winds up going past you, you may continue. The only exception will be if you are on the opposite side of a divided road, such as a guard rail or median. Then you do not need to stop. Check out this video of a close call this week from an oncoming vehicle that did not stop.
You should stay stopped until the bus driver turns off the red flashing lights and starts to move or signals you to proceed.
A quick word for the students waiting for the bus. Please stay back from the road while waiting. Your bus driver knows your stop, and will look for you. You do not want to be too close to oncoming cars who might get too close to you. Be safe!
Now, everyone asks me why there are not seat belts in school buses, and I have to say, no one has ever given me a good reason on that one. I’ll have to do some more research and get back to you. Have a great school year, everyone!